The First Exhibition of Nanbam Art

The Museum of Ancient Art was selected to host the first ever Fundação Oriente exhibition in Portugal. This featured the same collection that the Portuguese state had staged at the Museum of Cinquentenário, in Brussels to commemorate Europália 89 dedicated to Japan. Namban Art – The Portuguese in Japan attracted some fifteen thousand visitors in its three months. From folding screens to lacquers, from books to metals, these Namban pieces of art, belonging to both museum and private collections, provided an insight into the 16th century Portuguese presence in Japan.